bacs approved bureau scheme · this document details the charges relating to membership of the bacs...

BACS APPROVED BUREAU SCHEME Supporting guidelines for tariff and fees

JANUARY 2020


2 |VERSION 2.04 | JANUARY 2020

CONTENTS

1 DOCUMENT INFORMATION 4

1.1 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 4

2 INTRODUCTION 5

2.1 BACS PAYMENT SCHEMES AND PAY.UK 5

2.2 BACS APPROVED BUREAU (BAB) SCHEME 5

3 BAB TARIFF 6

3.1 SUMMARY OF FEES 6

3.2 REGISTRATION FEE 7

3.2.1 APPLICATION CANCELLATION CHARGE 7

3.3 ANNUAL FEE 7

3.3.1 LATE PAYMENT FEE 7

3.3.2 INVOICE RE-ISSUE FEE 7

3.4 SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT RE-INSPECTIONS FEE 8

3.5 CANCELLATION FEE 8

3.6 ADDITIONAL FEES 8

3.6.1 ADDITIONAL SITES 8

3.6.2 NON EUROPEAN UNION BASED BUREAUX (OVERSEAS VISITS) 8

4 INVOICE RULES 9

4.1 ACCOUNT CODE 9

4.2 ACCOUNTS PAYABLE 9

4.3 BUREAU NUMBER 9

4.4 SINGLE PAYMENT FOR MULTIPLE BUREAU NUMBERS 9

4.5 EMAILING OF ANNUAL FEE INVOICES 9

4.6 INVOICE INFORMATION 9


3 | VERSION 2.04 | JANUARY 2020

4.7 PART PAYMENTS 9

4.8 DIRECT DEBITS 10

4.9 PURCHASE ORDER NUMBERS 10

4.10 QUOTATIONS 10

4.11 SETTLEMENT 10

4.12 LATE PAYMENT CHARGE 10

5 CONTACTS 11

5.1 CONTACT FORM 11

5.2 EMAIL ADDRESS 11

5.3 POSTAL ADDRESS 11

5.4 WEBSITES 11

6 DIRECT DEBIT MANDATE 12



1 DOCUMENT INFORMATION

1.1 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT Pay.UK Limited (Pay.UK) © 2020. All rights reserved. Pay.UK Limited 2020 ©. All rights reserved. The copyright in this document is owned by Pay.UK Limited (registered number 10872449) and/or its subsidiary Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (registered number 04961302), both with registered offices is at 2 Thomas More Square, London, E1W 1YN. This document shall not be used, disclosed or copied in whole or in part for any purposes unless specifically approved in advance by Pay.UK Limited. Pay.UK® is a registered trademark of Pay.UK. No use of the Pay.UK Limited name, logo, trademark or branding is permitted without the prior written authority of Pay.UK Limited. Any such use will be considered a breach of copyright and a breach of the intellectual property rights of Pay.UK Limited. All the information contained in this document is correct at time of publication.



2 INTRODUCTION This document details the charges relating to membership of the Bacs Approved Bureau (BAB) Scheme.

2.1 BACS PAYMENT SCHEMES AND PAY.UK

Bacs Payment Schemes (Bacs) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pay.UK - the industry body whose role is to develop, enhance and promote the use and integrity of automated payment and payment related services. Pay.UK governs the rules and legal structures under which payments are made and promotes best practice amongst organisations offering payment services.

2.2 BACS APPROVED BUREAU (BAB) SCHEME

Pay.UK must approve any organisation that submits Direct Debits, Bacs Direct Credits or Faster Payments transactions on behalf of third parties (separate legal entities). It refers to such organisations as bureaux and provides approval under the BAB Scheme. This document details the charges relating to membership of the BAB Scheme.

The BAB status is non-transferrable and cannot be operated by any other organisation than the one approved by Pay.UK to operate the bureau number.



3 BAB TARIFF Pay.UK levies all fees, which are subject to VAT, at bureau number level. Additional fees may be payable as detailed below. The fees are applicable to all BABS, regardless of Faster Payments or Bacs submissions being processed.

All payments must be made by Direct Debit. A mandate is available at the end of this document.

All fees are payable in UK sterling only and any costs incurred by bank transfer (e.g. handling charges or conversion costs) by either the paying or receiving bank must be borne by the bureau.

3.1 SUMMARY OF FEES

Registration (Application) Fee £4500

Application Cancellation Charge (see 3.2.1) From £500

Annual Fee

Up to 30,000 transactions per annum £340

30,001 - 60,000 transactions per annum £715

60,001 - 100,000 transactions per annum £1050

100,001 – 250,000 transactions per annum £1500

250,001 – 750,000 transactions per annum £1950

750,001 – 1,000,000 transactions per annum £2500

1,000,001 – 1,250,000 transactions per annum £3000

1,250,001 and over transactions per annum £3500

Late Payment Fee £100

Interest charge for late payment (outstanding invoice plus late payment fee) Bank of England rate + 8%

Invoice re-issue Fee £20

Second (and subsequent) re-inspection fee (per visit) £650

Visit Cancellation Fee £530

Overseas Visit Fee (applicable for countries outside the European Union) £3000

Additional Site Fee £500



3.2 REGISTRATION FEE

The Registration Fee covers the initial set-up costs of bureaux applying to join the BAB Scheme. Set-up costs include the cost of the initial inspection and, if required, one re-inspection. The fee must be paid before an inspection can be arranged.

Bureaux will not receive approval until they settle the invoice for the Registration Fee (pre inspection); complete and return the contract that provides Pay.UK with the right to undertake regular inspections and successfully complete the inspection process.

3.2.1 APPLICATION CANCELLATION CHARGE

Once the application process has begun, if the applicant bureau decides to cancel the application, a fee will be charged depending on the level of work that has been undertaken. The remaining refund of the registration fee will then be progressed.

LEVEL STAGE FEE

1 If the bureau has been set up on the BAB database £500

2 plus if the bureau has been provided with access to the bureau portal £550

3 plus if a date has been arranged for the inspection £1500

4 plus if the inspection has taken place £2500

3.3 ANNUAL FEE

Annual Fees relate to the calendar year (1 January to 31 December), or any part thereof. Pay.UK calculates annual fees, based on the number of transactions submitted by a bureau number during the previous calendar year.

Pay.UK dispatches invoices for annual fees each April and does not normally charge an Annual and a Registration Fee in the same calendar year.

Pay.UK does not accept part payments and does not refund fees when a bureau organisation ceases to be a BAB part way through the year.

3.3.1 LATE PAYMENT FEE

Invoice payments not received within the required 30 days will incur a one-time late payment fee of £100. In addition, interest will be charged on the unpaid balance at the Bank of England base rate + 8%.

Any unpaid fees after three months will result in the removal of BAB status, which is a condition for access to the Bacs Service for the submission of third-party transactions.

3.3.2 INVOICE RE-ISSUE FEE

If an invoice needs re-issuing at a bureau’s request, a fee of £20 will be issued per invoice. It is the bureau’s responsibility to inform Pay.UK directly of changes to invoice addresses before the end of February every year.



3.4 SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT RE-INSPECTIONS FEE

If a bureau fails the initial inspection and the first re-inspection, a fee of £650 is payable for all subsequent re-inspections. This must be paid before another inspection date can be arranged.

3.5 CANCELLATION FEE

If a bureau cancels a scheduled visit at short notice, normally within two weeks of the agreed date, a cancellation fee of £530 will be issued. This must be paid before another inspection date can be arranged.

3.6 ADDITIONAL FEES

These fees are required to be paid before BAB status can be granted or renewed. All fees must be paid prior to the inspection.

3.6.1 ADDITIONAL SITES

If a bureau operates one bureau number (for the full end-to-end Bacs process) from more than one location, Pay.UK, at its discretion, will be required to visit all the additional sites. Sites located within the European Union will incur the set charge per visit. For sites outside of the European Union, see “Non-European Union Based Bureaux”.

3.6.2 NON-EUROPEAN UNION BASED BUREAUX (OVERSEAS VISITS)

Visiting bureaux operating outside the European Union can involve Pay.UK in substantial additional costs.

If a bureau location is outside of the European Union, a fee of £3000 per location will be charged in the year the visit takes place. The invoice will be required to be paid prior to the inspection.



4 INVOICE RULES

4.1 ACCOUNT CODE

The account code 2BABS00 quoted on invoices is for Pay.UK’s reference and has no relationship to any specific BAB - please see Bureau Number.

4.2 ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

Please note that Pay.UK will not become involved in the management of the internal accounts payable operations of any BAB; this is a BAB responsibility.

4.3 BUREAU NUMBER

The bureau number of the BAB (B followed by five numeric digits) should be quoted on all communications with Pay.UK, including remittance advices the notification of purchase order numbers and all queries. If the bureau number is not quoted, this will delay the allocation of funds to your outstanding invoice, and this will impact your BAB status.

4.4 SINGLE PAYMENT FOR MULTIPLE BUREAU NUMBERS

If a single payment is made to cover several invoices for multiple bureau numbers, the remittance advice listing all the bureau numbers and individual amounts must be emailed to [email protected] before the payments can be applied.

4.5 EMAILING OF ANNUAL FEE INVOICES

Invoices will be sent by email to the address provided to us (Pay.UK - Third Party Assurance Team). It is the BAB’s responsibility for supplying Pay.UK with any changes to invoice addresses in a timely manner. Pay.UK prepares annual invoices for membership of the BAB Scheme at the beginning of March each year for dispatch in April. BABs should supply any invoice address changes by the last day of February each year.

Please note that Pay.UK will not send invoices to third-parties; we will only send invoices to the BAB to which the invoice relates and with which we have a contractual relationship; it is the BAB’s responsibility to manage its third-party suppliers.

4.6 INVOICE INFORMATION

Invoices issued in respect of the BAB Scheme satisfy all current UK and EU requirements. Pay.UK does not tailor the information contained in its invoices.

4.7 PART PAYMENTS

Pay.UK does not accept part payments; Bacs will return any unsolicited funds received less a handling fee of 5% (minimum £10).

mailto:[email protected]



4.8 DIRECT DEBITS

All annual fees will be collected by Direct Debit. Direct Debit Instruction forms can be obtained directly from the Third Party Assurance Team or by emailing [email protected]. A form is also available at the end of this document.

All Direct Debit Instruction forms must be received by the Finance Team by the 1st of February each year to permit reasonable time for the set-up of the instructions with your bank. If the Direct Debit form is received by us later than the 1st of February, we cannot guarantee that your invoice can be collected by Direct Debit and you must ensure that you are able to pay by alternative means.

An annual invoice will be sent to you, giving you details of the amount you are due to pay and the date on which that payment needs to be made. As the amount will be collected automatically from your bank account it means that you will no longer have to do anything further.

4.9 PURCHASE ORDER NUMBERS

While there is no legal requirement to do so, Pay.UK is happy to quote purchase order numbers on its invoices. Pay.UK prepares annual invoices for membership of the BAB Scheme at the beginning of March each year for despatch in April. BABs should supply any purchase order number(s) for inclusion on annual invoices by the last day of February each year together with any changes to the invoice address. Pay.UK will not seek purchase order numbers and will not re-issue invoices (without charge) if these are supplied too late for inclusion in its annual invoice run. In the absence of a new purchase order number, Pay.UK will produce invoices that quote the last purchase order number provided, if any.

4.10 QUOTATIONS

Pay.UK does not quote for membership of the BAB Scheme as it publishes details of the standard fees applicable (this document) on the Bacs website. All BABs pay the same fees and Pay.UK does not supply personalised quotations.

4.11 SETTLEMENT

Pay.UK payment terms require settlement within 30 days and failure to pay in a timely manner will result in a late payment fee and ultimately, for consistent non-payment (three months), the removal of BAB status, which is a condition for access to the Bacs Service for the submission of third-party transactions.

4.12 LATE PAYMENT CHARGE

Late payment of fees will incur a late payment charge and interest. Failure to pay the fee or the charge within three months will result in the removal of BAB status, which is a condition for access to the Bacs Service for the submission of third-party transactions.




5 CONTACTS For further information or comments relating to these guidelines, please contact Pay.UK as follows:

5.1 CONTACT FORM

Selecting the “Contact” tab on the Bacs website provides access to a contact form (“Contact us”) that may be used to contact the Third Party Assurance Team. The “nature of enquiry” dropdown box allows the direction of enquiries to:

• The Bacs Service Desk – General enquiry

• Third Party Assurance Team – Bacs Approved Bureau query

• BAB Invoice Team – Bacs Approved Bureau invoice query.

Please note operational enquiries should be addressed to the Bacs Service Desk.

5.2 EMAIL ADDRESS

Invoice related queries can be emailed to [email protected].

5.3 POSTAL ADDRESS

The Bacs Approved Bureau Scheme, Pay.UK, 2 Thomas More Square, London, E1W 1YN.

5.4 WEBSITES

www.bacs.co.uk

www.wearepay.uk


http://www.bacs.co.uk/

http://www.wearepay.uk/



6 DIRECT DEBIT MANDATE Please return the completed Direct Debit Form to:

Bacs Approved Bureau Direct Debit Team Finance Department Pay.UK 2 Thomas More Square London E1W 1YN

bacs approved bureau scheme · this document details the charges relating to membership of the bacs...

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